


Games People Play

by magician



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Ficlet, Gen, Holidays, TS Secret Santa 2016, The Sentinel Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-15 11:03:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9232028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magician/pseuds/magician
Summary: Holiday fun at Simon's





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2016 TS Secret Santa Drabble Days for the prompt "classic holiday movies"

  
By mutual agreement, the last poker game of the year was always held at Simon's house. Also by mutual agreement, it doubled as the location for an end-of-year holiday party. Held mid-December, it was early enough not to conflict with Christmas/Hanukkah/Solstice/Kwanzaa plans and ambiguous enough to cover all the December holidays.  
  
Simon Banks, captain of the prestigious Major Crime Division of Cascade Police Department, was a big man and his house was spacious. The kitchen and dining room had plenty of counter space, and every available surface was covered with dishes of delicious food. The PD personnel enjoyed eating. It was point of pride that everyone made their best dish, and many shot covert looks to see how their offerings were being received.  
  
After dinner, everyone retired to the game room. Dessert, coffee and spirits were served and then the serious playing began. Although it was called poker night, the party's entertainment varied widely. In years past, they'd had dancing, a Las Vegas Night, and a darts tournament. They'd even had a vintage movie marathon. But tonight everyone agreed to play Charades.  
  
Simon's son, Daryl, volunteered to create the answers, filling an old fishbowl with little pieces of paper. The rules were simple: Each person took a turn giving the clues and anyone in the group could guess. The person who guessed right got a point, and everyone else had to take a drink.  
  
It didn't take long to realize that Daryl had picked a theme: Holiday/seasonal films. Not much longer and it was easy to see who was the movie buff. Henri Brown was currently kicking butt. He'd already guessed "White Christmas", "Home Alone", Miracle on 34th St", "The Bishop's Wife" and even the less obvious "The Shining".  
  
"Whew, I am hot!" Henri preened. "I think I've snagged the King of Games crown this year, Hairboy!"  
  
Blair Sandburg, the "Hairboy" in question, could only agree. Normally, he would easily clean up during their actual Poker Nights and had even been crowned the best rumba dancer at the holiday party two years ago. This year, he'd only been able to correctly guess "The Lion in Winter". His solving skills had steadily decreased with each drink. "Yeah, yeah, H," he said, slightly slurring. "I guess I should have watched more movies in my youth."  
  
The rest of the group was faring as badly as Blair. It wasn't that they were necessarily ignorant of movies; just more likely to watch "Die Hard", which it so happened was the one answer Jim Ellison got.  
  
The final mutual agreement of the night was to invite Daryl in, to be ribbed and have popcorn thrown at him for coming up with such tough charades. Henri was crowned champion and everyone went back for a second dessert (and some strong coffee). A good time was had by all, natch.


End file.
